By the Mercy of Eleos
by Vulpuz
Summary: Throw a traveler in need from your home, and reap the wrath of a merciless goddess. Do good unto others, and receive your just due.


**By the Mercy of Eleos: The Rewards of Mercy, and the Pains of Cruelty. **

**-A tale of warning by Vulpuz **

Once, there was an old man. He was kind and unselfish, but was considered a fool among his neighbors, for he always opened his doors to any strangers who sought aid and refuge.

"Letting beggars and thieves into your home, ha!" They mocked. "One day you'll regret your decision, Eldar!"

And smiling, Eldar always answered, "Or perhaps you shall."

One winter morning, a wizened woman who seemed as old as time staggered up to the house of Erdun, one of Eldar's three neighbors. "By the Mercy of Eleos," she croaked, "Let me in so that I may eat and drink and rest my weary old bones!"

"Ha!" Said Erdun from behind his door. "Why would I let a filthy old hag into my home? You'd only stain the floor."  
>When he turned next, she was standing in his home. He was so surprised that he could barely speak, as the old woman smiled. "Or perhaps you shall."<br>And with that, she pulled a knife out of her robes, and drove it into the wicked man's throat.

As she withdrew the knife from Erdun's corpse, she noticed the blood pool over the dead man's floor. The old hag entered his pantry, fed and drank her fill, and went to bed.

The next day, Elas, one of Eldar's two remaining neighbors, found a young, tired man using a broken spearhandle to lean upon waiting patiently outside of his home for him. He could tell by his unkempt hair and tattered uniform that he was a retired soldier, homeless and starving.  
>"By the Mercy of Eleos," he pleaded. "Let me in so that I may eat and drink and heal my tortured body!"<p>

"Unlikely!" Said Elas, standing in his doorway. "You'd only rob me of my health, if not my life entirely. Leave your begging to the gods, fiend!"

When he closed his door and turned around, the young soldier was standing before him, smiling. "Or perhaps you shall, for why should I, if your life is worth not?"

And with that, he drove the spear into Elas' chest.

The young man entered his pantry, fed and drank his fill, and used the fresh bandages in Elas' storeroom to heal his wounds.

By the next morning, Enur, Eldar's last remaining neighbor, espied a pregnant woman stepping up to his house, holding her stomach in her hands. She wore only a tattered tunic, which was torn and shredded beyond repair, her skin a dangerously-cold shade of blue in the ferocious weather. Having heard of what had happened to the two previous neighbors, Enur devised a cunning plan to escape the wrath of the gods.

"By the Mercy of Eleos," the woman cried. "Let me in so that I may eat and drink and give birth to my child in a shelter safe and warm!"

"Please," Enur said, for he was the slyest of the three. "Come in."

The pregnant woman stumbled into his home, looking in awe about Enur's great house as he led her to his bed, where she sat down, breathing heavily. "Thank you…"

"Of course." said Enur, with a dark smile. "Never let it be said that I have thrown a traveler in need from my home."

In the kitchen, the cruel man found scraps from his hound's food and placed it on a piece of treebark, a poison for such monsters, wishing not to give any of his real food to the strange creature.

He offered it to the pregnant woman, who accepted it hungrily, thinking it fresh and tearing into the chunks of old, dry meat. After a while she gasped, vomiting. "What did you feed me?"

"Trash." Enur said, as he drew a branch of ashwood from his fireplace. "As you are, demon."

Weakened by the disgusting concoction, the creature disguised as the pregnant woman could only scream and thrash as Enur ran his ashwood branch through it's body thrice. It fell over, dead, its stomach gouged open to reveal what was left of Erdun and Elas' devoured flesh.

Enur dragged the body outside and burned it, and laughing villainously, he reentered his home, but lo! A young woman with olive skin and black hair that flowed like rainwater was standing in his home, bare and smiling coldly.

"Enur," she laughed. "You did not think that wickedness and venomous deeds would free you from my wrath?"

"Eleos, merciful Eleos!" Enur yelped, falling to his knees in submission. "Please, I beg of you, spare me for my misdeeds!"

"No, Enur. You have betrayed the trust of Eleos. Plead not, for you speak not to her, but her sister, Anaideia the Ruthless!" A single piece of pottery Enur found in the goddess's hand, and with a toothy grin, it was driven into Enur's vile head.

The next day, Eldar found a beautiful maiden standing at his doorstep. "O good Eldar, kindest of the four, accept this gift from Eleos, for she smiles upon your mercy and compassion"

Within the clay jug he was given, Eldar found many drachmas, enough to ensure the well-being of himself and his many descendants for centuries afterwards.


End file.
